BORIS Johnson has been urged to cancel his trip to Scotland tomorrow, with MPs saying he should only travel if he intends on doing “real work”.
There’s speculation the Prime Minister could be visiting Perthshire or the central belt.
It’s understood he’ll be meeting troops from one of the Army’s 11 Vaccination Centre Setup Teams as they help build one of 80 new sites.
Nevertheless, Alistair Carmichael, the former secretary of state for Scotland, was wary of the trip. He accused Johnson of treating his role as Minister for the Union “like a punchline”.
The veteran LibDem said: “Ronald Reagan famously said that the scariest words in the English language were ‘I am from the government and I am here to help you’.
“For those of us making the case against separation, the Prime Minister making a day trip of this sort has a similar ring.”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson told to only visit Scotland if he has 'real work' to do
Currently, it’s against the law to travel from England into Scotland without a “reasonable excuse”.
The Prime Minister – and everyone else – can “travel for work” but only when that cannot be done from home.
Carmichael said the guidance was clear.
“If the Prime Minister is intending to travel then he had better have a real reason and some real work to do – not just staged photoshoots,” he said.
“When the Prime Minister came to Scotland last summer, he posed for the cameras with Orkney crab and promised good times ahead.
“If he’s determined to visit again, he should meet with those same producers to apologise for breaking his promises and wrecking their access to vital European markets.
“Bungling Boris Johnson has been consistently the most effective recruiting sergeant the nationalists could dream of.
“If he wants to change that perception then he could start by treating his title as Minister for the Union a little less like a punchline.”
Pete Wishart, the SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire claimed the trip defied all public health measures.
He told the Courier: “At this critical time, when it looks as if we might finally be seeing the numbers of infection falling again, it is hugely troublesome to hear that Boris Johnson plans to defy all the stay at home messaging and travel from London to Scotland.
“Some London boroughs still see infection rates of over 700 per 100,000 of population, at a time when the average rate across Perth and Kinross is below 150 per 100,000.
“I would politely, but firmly suggest to the Prime Minister that this trip is not essential, it is not appropriate and I think that most people in Scotland would agree with that point.”
READ MORE: MPs tell Boris Johnson to stick to Covid rules and stay out of Scotland
But Alister Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland insisted Johnson did have a “good reason to visit”.
“He is Prime Minister of the UK. All the people on the trip with him will be lateral-flow tested before they leave and all Covid rules will be adhered to,” Jack said.
“We know there is a geographical border but it is not a physical border. We are one United Kingdom and he is Prime Minister of that United Kingdom,” Jack told The Herald.
According to The Guardian, during his trip, Johnson is set to announce “that he considers the UK’s existing constitutional architecture is not working”.
He will reportedly unveil a “third way” approach, somewhere between the status quo and independence.
This will be “based on the principle of the UK adding value to the devolved settlement, as well as launching an all-UK strategy that could involve new and wider devolution and a more federal structure to the UK’s constitutional arrangements, potentially extending to reform of the House of Lords”.
Over the weekend, it was revealed that Michael Gove had met with Gordon Brown, to talk about building the case for the Union.
Meanwhile, yesterday Alun Evans, director of the Scotland Office between 2012-15, criticised Johnson for putting his head in the sand over a second vote.
In a letter to the Times, he suggested there should be a third option of “home rule” on any ballot and a requirement that Yes would win a 60% “super-majority”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel